Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2023 Jun;236:103934. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103934. Epub 2023 May 6.
The unity/diversity framework, originally published by Miyake et al. (2000) has become the most cited model of executive functioning. Consequently, when researchers operationalise executive function (EF) they often exclusively assess the three "core" EFs: updating, shifting, and inhibition. However, rather than core EFs representing domain general cognitive abilities, these three EFs may instead represent specific procedural skills from the overlapping methodologies of the tasks selected. In this study, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) which showed both the traditional three-factor and nested-factor model from the unity/diversity framework failed to reach satisfactory levels of fit. Subsequently, an exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor model reflecting: an expanded working memory factor, a combined shifting/inhibition factor representing cognitive flexibility, and a factor comprised solely of the Stroop task. These results demonstrate that working memory remains the most robustly operationalised EF construct, whereas shifting and inhibition may represent task-specific mechanisms of a broader domain-general cognitive flexibility factor. Ultimately, there is little evidence to suggest that updating, shifting, and inhibition encapsulates all core EFs. Further research is needed to develop an ecologically valid model of executive functioning that captures the cognitive abilities associated with real world goal-directed behaviour.
统一/多样性框架最初由 Miyake 等人（2000 年）发表，现已成为最常被引用的执行功能模型。因此，当研究人员操作执行功能（EF）时，他们通常只评估三个“核心”EF：更新、转换和抑制。然而，这些三个 EF 并不代表核心 EF 是普遍的认知能力，而是可能代表了从所选任务的重叠方法中得出的特定程序技能。在这项研究中，我们进行了验证性因素分析（CFA），结果表明，传统的三因素和统一/多样性框架中的嵌套因素模型都未能达到令人满意的拟合水平。随后，一项探索性因素分析支持了一个三因素模型，反映了：扩展的工作记忆因素、代表认知灵活性的转换/抑制组合因素，以及仅由 Stroop 任务组成的因素。这些结果表明，工作记忆仍然是最可靠地操作化的 EF 结构，而转换和抑制可能代表更广泛的一般认知灵活性因素的特定任务机制。最终，几乎没有证据表明更新、转换和抑制包含所有核心 EF。需要进一步研究来开发一种具有生态效度的执行功能模型，以捕捉与现实世界目标导向行为相关的认知能力。
